Welcome to the Always Emily Blog Tour!
Last week, I had the opportunity to review Always Emily, in which Michaela MacColl gives the two most famous Brontë sisters the Veronica Mars treatment—a.k.a turns them into teenage detectives.
Here’s the official word:
Emily and Charlotte Brontë are about as opposite as two sisters can be. Charlotte is practical and cautious; Emily is headstrong and imaginative. But they do have one thing in common: a love of writing. This shared passion will lead them to be two of the first published female novelists and authors of several enduring works of classic literature. But they’re not there yet. First, they have to figure out if there is a connection between a string of local burglaries, rumors that a neighbor’s death may not have been accidental, and the appearance on the moors of a mysterious and handsome stranger. The girls have a lot of knots to untangle— before someone else gets killed.
I love retellings (when they’re done right), and I’m somewhat familiar with the works of the Brontë thanks to my years of English lit studies, so I really enjoyed reading about the sisters in this new light. When I had the opportunity to ask MacColl about her inspirations for the novel, I jumped at the chance.
Thanks for having me stop by—I adore Forever Young Adult. Your reviews are hilarious and your casting notes are spot-on!
What inspired you to write about Charlotte and Emily?
It’s funny but at first the Brontës weren’t even on my radar. My editor, Victoria Rock, and I had just finished Nobody’s Secret (Chronicle 2012), a mystery with Emily Dickinson. I proposed writing about Arthur Conan Doyle because there’s a great story in his teenage years that leads directly to the creation of Sherlock Holmes. Victoria was all for it because she thought I should write a male protagonist. So I was beginning to do research and planning a story when Victoria called me. She told me she’d gone to an Acquisitions meeting and mentioned our next project. This is how the conversation went:
Me: What did they think? Did they like the idea? (I’m feeling pretty confident)
Victoria: There was silence in the room.
Me: (small voice) Silence?
Victoria: Total silence. Then Ginny (the Kids Publishing Director) cleared her throat and said, “We were all thinking …”
Me: All?
Victoria: Yup. Everyone in the room agreed that they would like to see what you would do with the Brontës.
Now everyone I’ve met at Chronicle is smart and savvy—and who am to argue with a room of brilliant folks who all think I should write about the Brontës? Not that it was much of a hardship. I reread Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights and I was hooked.
What kind of research did you have to do into the Brontë family for the book?
I’ve developed a method that works for me. I start with the biggest most definitive biography I can find. In this case, it was The Brontës: Wild Genius of the Moors, The Story of a Literary Family. The paperback version of this is 1184 pages (that’s not a typo). The author, Juliet Barker, was the curator of the Parsonage, the Brontë home and now museum. She spent over a decade doing original research and examining all the other biographies. I went through that carefully—looking for details that I could use. I collect it all in Scrivener. Then I look at any other book I can find—but I’m only looking for new insights or additional details that Barker didn’t have.
The rest of the research comes up as I need it. For instance, I wasn’t able to visit Yorkshire while I was writing—but I set many of my scenes on the moors. And I wanted a long scene where Charlotte and Emily are following someone across the moors. Happily, I found a British website where serious walkers document their walks—including an exploration of the Bronte’s environs.
There were even pictures. It was the next best thing to being there.
Are you more of a Charlotte or an Emily? (I hope you're not more of a Branwell!)
My biggest problem writing Always Emily was choosing between Charlotte and Emily. Charlotte is more like me. I’m fairly practical, always planning and (I must admit) a bit bossy. She’s the only one in the entire Brontë family who is thinking about the future. On the other hand, Emily is irresponsible and a bit selfish. She’s always mesmerizing. Much like her famous character Catherine, you may not like Emily much, but you can’t take your eyes off her! Emily won by a hair as my main character. But the title is deliberately misleading. Always Emily refers to Emily’s attractiveness—but the person who says it is Charlotte. She’s frustrated that no matter what Emily does, she always gets away with it. And for the record … I can’t stand Branwell!
And on a larger scale, you've written more than one book now in which your main characters are well-known female authors reimagined as teenage detectives. Do you have a plan to write more?
I started with Emily Dickinson, moved across the Atlantic to the Brontë sisters. The next entry in the series is already in copy edits and its about … Louisa May Alcott! After that, we’ll see. Someday, I’ll get to Arthur Conan Doyle but first there are lots of other female writers to do!
What led you to want to write about these women in such different lights?
I love mysteries and I love 19th century literature. I’ve found that I have a knack for converting biography to story—so it seemed natural to portray these fascinating ladies doing something interesting. Originally I planned to write more than one mystery with Emily Dickinson—but Chronicle came up with the idea of different writers. It’s been a blast so far—and I hope to write more. I love it when I hear from readers that my story inspired them to go read Dickinson’s poems or Wuthering Heights.
Thanks so much for stopping by, Michaela!
Thanks for having me. I’d love to have your readers visit at www.michaelamaccoll.com, or follow me on Twitter at @MichaelaMacColl or check out Author Michaela MacColl on Facebook.
Check out the rest of the stops on the Always Emily blog tour below:
Tuesday, April 8: Actin’ Up With Books
Wednesday, April 9: vvb32 reads
Thursday, April 10: The Children’s and Teens’ Book Connection
Friday, April 11: Teenreads Blog
Saturday, April 12: Caught Between the Pages
Sunday, April 13: The Bookish Daydreamer
Monday, April 14: Forever Young Adult—You are here!
Tuesday, April 15: Kid Lit Frenzy
Wednesday, April 16: Tales of a Ravenous Reader
Thursday, April 17: YA Book Shelf
Friday, April 18: The Book Cellar
Saturday, April 19: Mother Daughter Book Club
Always Emily is available now. Want to learn more?
Download an excerpt of Always Emily:
And check out the book trailer:
Want to win your very own signed copy of Always Emily? Just tell us—in the comments—which literary figure you’d love to read more about. A winner will be randomly chosen April 21. Per the publisher: U.S./Canada only, please.